The sending of regrettable emails in work is something that many people will have to get used to, according to an IT expert.

Ben Camm-Jones, the editor for Web-User Magazine, said that rude, aggressive or nasty emails are part of human nature in certain situations, although alcohol and a general lack of common sense are major contributors to the sending of such content.

He continued: "I'm no psychologist but the reason people are more likely to say things they could regret in emails or texts is because they lack courage - they would probably never dare say these things directly to someone else."

Mr Camm-Jones added that such an occurrence is to become a part of society as regularly seen as people speaking at the top of their voice when using a mobile phone in a public place.

Gmail, the email provider from Google, released Mail Goggles in October as a way of ensuring that people are not drunk before sending messages by making them solve simple maths problems.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.